Riviera Resort – Sea Point, Cape Town

Location, Location, Location!

We recently stayed at the Riviera Resort (timeshare) in the Sea Point area of Cape Town. It was the week of March 4-11. The Cape Town Cycle Tour, which was the reason we visited Cape Town, took place on the 6th of March.

The weather was great the whole week and particularly nice on race day: Cool but not cold, Slightly breezy, sunny and generally very pleasant.

The Riviera Resort was just what we needed. It had a few bad points but it was mostly a great experience. We booked a four sleeper through RCI, but bookings can also be arranged through First Exchange.

Four Sleeper

Our four sleeper consisted of an open plan lounge-bedroom area that had one king size bed and a pull out sleeper couch.

There was a separate bathroom that had a bath-come-shower arrangement. The door for the shower extended half the length of the bath and swung free.

The kitchen had the usual appliances, which I won’t list other than to mention the stove/oven was counter top (microwave sized) and the fridge was half sized. That’s probably standard for a 4 sleeper and was fine for two.

The Bad

There were a few bad points that need to be mentioned.

No Air Con. Sorry, but a resort in a sought after location in a high profile area should have air con. Mediterranean climate or not, December, January and February can be very hot. International visitors will be more attracted if air con is offered.

Air con wasn’t needed during our stay but if it had been, we would’ve suffered.

The Fan Wobbled. We used the fan constantly, but no higher than second speed. At full bore it made a wobbly noise.

Shower Stall. A loosely swinging door meant the floor got puddled if the door wasn’t kept aligned properly. Fortunately, my wife came up with an ingenious way to wedge the door in place.

Because the shower was really a bath, the curved bottom made it difficult to keep your footing. There were plenty of hand holds but a shower mat or non-slip surface would help.

Parking. Only 5 or 6 lockup parking bays available, which had to be booked and paid for separately. There were 3 or 4 bays in the luggage drop off area but otherwise only street parking was available. A guard watched the cars at night but this is South Africa. Security guards are not ex-military types.

Comments Not Complaints

TV Issues. TV equipment and programming wasn’t that special but I’ve never been to a resort where it was. And this is Cape Town. You’re not going to spend your time watching TV.

Lift And Stairs. The lift was old and slow but it worked. You had to watch your step on the stairs, though. They weren’t uniform but, again, that is typical.

The Good

This is one of those situations where the good is so great, you don’t really notice the bad.

Location, Location, Location. The resort faces the sea and is on a main thoroughfare (Beach Road, M6), only a 5 or 6 kilometer drive to the center of Cape Town. Beach Road is also the last few kilometers of the Cycle Tour, so you can watch cyclists flying by and the finish line is only a short walk.

A promenade is just across the road which stretches a few kilometers in either direction along scenic beaches. The Riviera is only a 50 meter walk to the pavilion and swimming pools, and you can see Table Mountain from the resort as well.

There’s a Woolworth a couple hundred meters away and shops of all kinds in the vicinity. Restaurants galore.

If you get bored with Cape Town proper or the vicinity of the resort, travel south and you find an endless number of restaurants, shops and sights.

Service. Resort personnel were exceptionally friendly and always on call. Our every need was met immediately.

Check in was 4 PM and we arrived midday. Resort personnel kindly got us checked in by 2 PM.

Free Wifi. I don’t use public wifi’s but Riviera offers 250 Mega bites of free data everyday. Not bad. If your mobile phone is capable, 4G connections are also possible in the area.

Comfortable. Aside from the few negatives, we were very comfortable. The bed was first class and there were plenty of pillows!

Ambiance. It’s hard to describe briefly but the area atmosphere is incredible. It’s old world, new world, a pleasant mix of Boomers and Millennials, a bit quiet, a bit upbeat, homeless, high class and culturally diverse in the extreme. It’s great!

Access. The start line for the Cape Town Cycle Tour is only 5 kilometers away. You don’t need a map or a lift. Just hop on your bike and follow all the other cyclists.

It’s also in reach of some of the most scenic areas in the world. Sadly, you’ll need to visit several times to see all the sights.

I gave Riviera 4 out of 5 stars but the bottom line is, I would visit here again and again. A really great experience.